The ABCs of Zutara
by Densharr
Summary: 26 Drabbles about my favorite A:tLA couple, through all the letters of the alphabet.


Written partly in response to Written Parody's Zutara ABC challenge, and partly in the hopes that it'll inspire me to actually start writing again...

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**A** is for Addiction; he couldn't get enough of her soft skin and luxurious hair, and she needed his being like one needs a breath of fresh air.

**B** is for the Blind Bandit; the canny earthbender who first figured out their mutual attraction. From subtle clues (leaving them to do chores together) to the not-so-subtle (earthbending them into a closet, while Iroh quickly locks it and they walk away snickering, congratulating themselves on a job well done), she knew that heartbeats didn't lie, and theirs beat as one.

**C** is for the Catacombs; the first place where Katara really _saw_ Zuko, and the place where he first bared his soul to another.

**D** is for Dragons; Ran and Shao. When Zuko brought Jeong Jeong to the Masters, to show him the true meaning of firebending, the Catfish remarked upon how similar they were to Zuko and Katara. Blushing furiously, he quickly changed the subject before his grandfather could make anything of it.

**E** is for Earth Kingdoms; No matter how much they try to ignore it, that nation will always be special to them. In between the pirates, Ba Sing Se and Tu Zin, it's too full of memories, of moments, to ever try and forget.

**F** is for Forgiveness; Katara's acceptance of Zuko after the Southern Raiders was more precious to Zuko than he would ever dare admit.

**G** is for Grandbabies; while Zuko frantically paced outside the hospital ward, Iroh merely sipped his tea as Katara's furious screams against Zuko echoed throughout the palace. Iroh wondered if they were going to name one of the children after Toph or himself – it was, after all, because of them that the two finally managed to get it together.

**H** is for Harem: when she found out that Fire Lords traditionally maintained one, she demanded that Zuko get rid of it if he wanted to marry her. With a handsome smirk, he showed her to a suite of luxurious rooms, filled with silks and pillows... but no people. He had dismissed them the minute that he had gotten to power and realised his intent to pursue her.

**I **is for Incredible; Katara was amazed that Zuko was able to redirect Azula's lightning bolt during their Agni Kai – she had been so sure of her impending death, that she had finally admitted feelings for Zuko to herself. After she healed his chest, even though he stank of ozone and blood and she smelled of sweat, she admitted that it had been her most amazing kiss yet.

**J **is for Journeys Shared; both the physical (finding Ursa), the emotional (confronting Yon Rah) and the spiritual (Zuko's change of heart)

**K** is for Kiss; It was mutually agreed that they would tell no one of their first kiss – her tied to a certain tree, the rough bark pressing at her back as her face was pulled inexorably towards his, drawn by an unknown but irresistible force. Zuko was just grateful that Toph had never thought to ask about the tree that Iroh had "accidentally" brought up.

**L** is for Lies; both the lies they told themselves and everyone else. They continued to deny their relationship right up until Sokka caught them kissing against a pillar in a little-used practice courtyard in the Northern Water Tribe's palace a few years after the war ended. In a rare fit of humour, Pakku refused to let anyone repair said pillar, saying that the melted imprint of the Fire Lord in the heart of Arnook's tribe was a true sign that the war had ended.

**M** is for Motherhood: even though Katara swore she wasn't ready, the first time that she looked into baby Lu Ten's amber gaze, she knew that she was.

**N** is for Nine; the number of grandbabies that Iroh demanded. After they managed to finish coughing, Toph laughed and commented that they'd already started on the making-of. It was only after Suki and Iroh managed to pry Sokka off of Zuko that Toph said that Katara would was already pregnant, leaving Sokka frothing at the mouth as Suki sat on him.

**O** is for Obstinate; for years after Fire Lord Zuko married Lady Katara, Avatar Aang never read any of Katara's letters. The wax seal, imprinted with a dragon encircling a crescent moon on red wax, was too painful for the boy to look at. It took a firm talking to from Toph to bully him into opening them. His eyes watered upon reading how broken up she was over losing her best friend and brother.

**P** is for Protection; not that they needed it. But Zuko desperately needed it to save himself after Ozai revealed that he knew where Ursa was, but he'd never tell. It was Katara who held the young Fire Lord back, knowing that in his rage, he would kill his father and then they would never find his mother.

**Q** is for Queer; no one had ever figured them right for each other, but five years after the war, when Katara was kneeling beside Zuko behind his wall of golden flames, everybody wondered why they hadn't seen it sooner than they had.

**R** is for Relationships; they both had them, they both ended badly. But their own relationship had remained solid ever since Yon Rah.

**S** is for Step; the single step taken by Zuko to comfort her after her Gran Gran died. It was all she needed to throw herself into his arms, sobbing, while Aang and Sokka looked on aghast that she was _his_ arms, not her boyfriends'.

**T** is for Timing; Zuko waited until Katara was ready before he admitted his connection to her – she was devastated over Aang's reaction to their break up, and he refused to let Katara see him as the rebound. He wanted... no, _needed_ her to see him like she had under Ba Sing Se.

**U** is for Unknown: they didn't know what the future held, only that they would find out together.

**V** is for Victory; even though Zuko had finished the war and achieved world peace, why did he feel like his biggest victory was sitting beside him, feeding the turtleducks with their daughter?

**W** is for Wu; Katara had never lost faith in Aunt Wu's fortune-telling abilities, even after her and Aang were no longer together. The first time that Zuko managed to produce lightning, she overheard Sokka calling him a powerful bender, and she ran up to him and threw her arms around her brother.

**X** is for Xenophobia; what the Fire Sages demonstrated when Zuko announced his intentions to marry outside of Fire Nation Nobility. They quickly changed their minds... as soon as the ice defrosted.

**Y** is for Year; the amount of time that they spent engaged, to get the court prepared for the idea of a waterbending Fire Lady. It didn't matter after that – they were getting married no matter what, but this way they had a chance to reassign the more... vocal of their families away from court.

**Z** is for Zeolite: Zuko had retrofitted all of the hallways in the palace with zeolite inlays after the first assassination attempt on Katara's life by Fire Nation purists not long after they announced their relationship. Even though she assured him that she could easily pull moisture from the humid air, he argued in favour of practicality. When they allowed her son Amaguq defend himself from another assassin nearly two decades later, she saw the wisdom in his words.

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A/N: If anyone is confused about Jeong Jeong being his grandfather, read my Zutara 2010 week entry (Harmony). Also, Tu Zin is the abandoned village where they all face off against Azula. Also, this is apparently slightly AU off canon (see K and I at the _very_ least).

**F** is also for Fail... what I did here.

...And out comes the Geologist in me. Zeolite is a naturally forming volcanic mineral that can hold crazy (for a rock) amounts of moisture stored in its lattice-like structure.


End file.
